Overlap between moult and autumn migration in passerines in northern taiga zone of Eastern Fennoscandia

• Main Author: Ilya N Panov
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fennoscandia; taiga
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1090.8507; http://www.zin.ru/journals/aeb/pdf/Panov_2011_19_AEB.pdf

I studied overlap between moult and autumn migration in three passerine species, the Bluethroat Luscinia svecica, the Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, and the Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus, in the northern taiga zone of Eastern Fennoscandia. For this purpose, recaptures of previously marked birds were analysed. Samples of birds marked at different stages of moult were compared by the estimates of time they stayed at the capture site. Moult stages that coincide with the onset of autumn migratory movements were determined. Sex-related and annual variation in distribution of captures by moult stages is discussed together with age-and species-specific variation in the percentage of moulting individuals among migrants.